Would you vote against Prop. 8 if Emily Deschanel did?

Happy Halloween! I just saw the scariest costume: Millions of people in California are dressed up like homophobic zombies/vampires/Death Eaters, and instead of “trick or treat!” they’re going around saying, “And on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could protect himself from the dinosaurs — and the homosexuals.” Isn’t that creepy? I’m so glad it’s a Halloween prank.

OK, I tried for lighthearted, but I just can’t do it. The Proposition 8 vote is just a few days away, and the most recent polls show that the yeses and nos are neck and neck.

Team Equality has had some great success, though. First of all, the 8 Against 8 bloggers reached their fundraising goal in only three days. The Screen Actors Guild took a public stance against Prop. 8. And even more celebrities wrote checks for the cause: among them Bones star Emily Deschanel and Mary McCormack from In Plain Sight.

I called my son over. I said, “Read this, tell me what you think.” He, being 9 years old and very proud of his reading skills, read “Changes California Constitution to eliminate right of same sex couples to marry.” He looked at me, very matter-of-factly, and said, “Wow, that’s lame.”

My favorite story to come out about Prop. 8 this week was from a phone bank worker who finally took a stand when she saw a Pepperdine Law professor blatantly lying on a “Yes on 8” commercial.

The main excitement of my first night was talking to an Undecided who cited one of our talking points in a perfect, easy lob. Joe, sitting next to me, heard me say, “Actually, that’s not true …” and, seeing me shuffling for my talking points page, leapt in for the assist with his. It actually sounded pretty smooth and natural. And once I had assured my callee that second-graders would not at any point be lined up in the gymnasium for Calisthenics and Same-Sex Soul Kissing Drills, she said she’d be voting no.

I wish I could end this post with something clever, but the entire time I’ve been writing, the only thing I can hear in my head is Harry Potter’s voice: “If Voldemort’s building up an army, I want to fight!” I try really hard not to simplify things into good versus evil, but in this case, I can’t see it any other way. So, you’ve got four days left to fight: raise awareness, donate your time or money, and mostly, go vote!